Muck & Daves - New BBQ Trailer on South Congress

Vegas has stolen my wife for a few days and to make things a little more interesting, we've put our condo on the market so we're having random strangers walk through our place during the week.  To avoid our potential buyers being scared off by our intimidating dog, I've been coming home just before a showing to grab Mads and get her out of the house.  Having to do this the past 3 days I've decided to take advantage and hit up a few of the local trailers I've yet to enjoy.

Last week driving into work, I noticed a new smell as I passed the South Congress trailer park.  The sweet sweet smell of bbq...at 8am.  Could it be a new Franklins expansion trailer within coronary distance?  Alas, it was not....instead, its a place called Muck & Daves.

The menu is pretty standard bbq fare: brisket, sausage, ribs and chopped beef sammiches.  I went with the two meat plate of brisket and sausage (my standard measuring stick for bbq) with a side of slaw and potato chips.  The woman working was on her 2nd day but was extremely nice and warned that they were still working out the kinks.  

To be fair, they've only been open less than a week so there were kinks to work out.  This is especially difficult with meat you have to smoke overnight and then maintain the quality throughout the day.  The brisket was really dried out but there was a pretty good rub used so there was potential for something flavorful.  The sausage was extremely good, but it was Elgin sausage and not a homemade product.  Hard to knock too many points there, but they have the unfortunate position of being compared to Franklins.

BBQ purists will say that sauce is an afterthought and the meat should stand on its own merit.  While I typically agree, a good sauce can make average cue slightly above average.  Their sauce is a second cousin of The Salt Lick.  Very different than most with a definite sweetness to it.  If you took their sauce and put it on the table at Franklins......sorry.....my stomach is doing a happy dance.

I do award them +10 internet points for the sign on their fridge:

Snack Bar

A, J, E and I went out Friday night trying to find a new locale on South Congress to try for dinner.  We'd seen Snack Bar but heard few things about it positive or negative.  We decided to give it a shot.  The location is the old Sol y La Luna restaurant adjacent to Austin Motel.  They'd done a good job renovating and the projector showing Tom and Jerry cartoons was a nice/odd touch.

They have a brunch/lunch menu with entrees, but the dinner menu is more of a "shared appetizer" type fare.  The beverage selection was pretty solid:

 

Between the four of us, we knocked out a good portion of the menu:

Chile Rellenos - sweet peppers instead of the typical spicy poblano.  The sweet peppers were an interesting twist but quite frankly, the thick batter and lack of flavor really didn't do much for me.

Tres Sopas - We got one of each type, Picadillo, Mango Shrimp and Black Bean.  All three were pretty good.  The beef had a nice peppery spice, the mango worked well with the shrimp and the beans...well, A ate that one but I didn't hear complaints.

Spring Rolls - I'm not the best judge b/c spring rolls just aren't my thing.  But the general consensus was too much rice filling and not enough veggies.

Mac and Cheese - Find me one person who isn't a fan of Mac and Cheese and I'll show you a communist.  Problem here was that the m&c didn't seem like much more than the boxed stuff you get at the store.  A little parsley sprinkled on top does not gourmet make.

I've yet to throw out a negative review in my blog infancy, but this place was just subpar, especially given how much the dinner cost.  Save your time and walk over to South Congress Cafe.

Crabmeat Stuffed Portabellos - Proving once again, any food stuffed in another food is bliss

The nomBlog and I have had a talk and I have agreed to pay her more attention.  The truth is, I've got several meals piling up in my "yet-to-be-blogged" list its just a matter of throwing them up there in the ether.

I love cooking shows.  Good Eats, Emeril, Rachael Ray, even a little Paula Dean when I want to increase my cholesterol just by watching.   They provide some great recipe ideas but also show technique and the prep that can go into meals.  Emeril in-particular tends to have fairly involved recipes with many ingredients and steps.  I tend to go for simpler recipes so most of his stuff I stray away from.  However, I came across this recipe of his and was thrilled at the simple ingredients and potential awesomeness that could result.

 

    * 6 portobella mushrooms, stemmed caps (fresh from Greenling)
    * 3 tablespoons olive oil
    * 1 1/4 teaspoons salt
    * 3/4 teaspoon fresh ground white pepper
    * 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
    * 1/4 cup small-diced onion
    * 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
    * 1 cup whole milk
    * 1 pinch freshly grated nutmeg
    * 1/2 lb lump crab-meat, picked over
    * 1/3 cup grated Gruyère
    * 4 teaspoons breadcrumbs

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F

Toss the mushroom caps with the 2 tablespoons of the olive oil and season with 1 teaspoon of salt and 1/2 teaspoon of pepper.

Place the caps on an aluminum foil lined baking sheet, stem-end up, and roast in the oven until well roasted and browned, about 35 to 40 minutes.

Remove from the oven and cool for 10 minutes.
Result:

Set a 1-quart saucepan over medium heat and add the butter to the pan.

Once the butter is melted, about 1 minute, add the onions and sauté until translucent, about 3 minutes.  I went ahead and diced up some of the mushroom stems to add to the mix.

Sprinkle the flour into the pan and stir to form a roux.
Continue to cook the roux for 2 to 3 minutes before adding the milk.
Result:

 

Bring the milk to a boil and reduce to a simmer, season with the remaining 1/4 teaspoon of salt, 1/4 teaspoon of pepper and the nutmeg.

Cook the bechamel sauce for 5 minutes before removing from the heat. Allow the mixture to cool slightly before folding in the crab-meat and cheese.
Result:

 

Combine the bread crumbs with the remaining tablespoon of olive oil.

Spoon 1/3 cup of the bechamel over each mushroom cap and sprinkle 1 teaspoon of the bread crumb mixture over each stuffed mushroom.

Place in the oven and roast until the bechamel is bubbling and lightly browned on the edges, about 8 to 10 minutes.
Result:

 

At this point I had 20 minutes to scarf down the stuffed goodness before my softball game so no plated photos.  A and I were both happy with the results.  Portabellos are about as close to meat as you can get w/o involving something with 4 legs.  The seasoning may need to be tweaked a bit as the flavor was a little bland, but the Gruyère cheese made sure I didn't care that much.

Franklins BBQ - Everything's better in a trailer (Oklahomans excluded)

For Austinite bbq lovers, the few options in town meant treks to Luling, Lockhart, Taylor or Driftwood.  There are a few in town I like (Rudy's, Ruby's), but none that just flat out impress across the board.  Until now.  It may not look like much, but Franklin's is quickly gaining a reputation among BBQ aficionados.  I gathered up the Royal We (Fall 09 Bowling Champs) Thursday to try it out and walked away extremely impressed (and overweight).

My litmus test for good bbq is the standard 2 meat test: brisket and sausage.  Between the 4 of us we ordered 1.5 lbs brisket, 1 lb sausage and 1lb pork ribs.  The owner, Aaron, provided us with some charred caps to munch on while he cut everything up.  Amazing.  The guy should somehow market just the ends (muffintop ala Seinfeld). It was all amazing.  The brisket was one of the best I've tried, 10 out of 10.  The sausage and ribs were both 8 out of 10.  My only knock was there just wasn't a sauce there that I really liked.  The expresso sauce is good and a very different idea.  The sweet sauce was ok and I'll have to try the pork sauce next round with some pulled pork. 

We all walked away very happy with this nearby lunch option soon to make it into the rotation.  On one hand, I liked the fact that we walked right up with just a few folks in line and had our run of the place.  On the other hand, its criminal to keep a place like this secret and Aaron seems like genuine good people.  So, next chance you get, give it a go.  Its just north of Dreamers (on 35 frontage road).  If you pass Chicas Bonitas, you've gone too far.  (35 and Concordia).

And now, food porn:

The establishment

 

The Order

El Brisket

Los Ribs

BBQ Lunch, Serious Business

Butternut Squash and Sweet Potato Soup

So, apologies for the blog hiatus.  Between the holidays, the National Championship game and Vegas, there wasn't much cooking going on up in our kitchen.  However, this will be a multiblog week so really, try and contain yourselves.  Onto the grub.

For those that don't know me, I'm a carnivore of the highest order.  The few entries I've made were chalk full of meaty goodness.  Every now and then I feel the need to get away from that and bring some veggies into the mix (its rare, but it does happen).  So when I filled out our Greenling order this week I grabbed way too many butternut squashi, some sweet potatoes (a regular in our box) and a few yukon gold potatoes and went to town.

1 lb butternut squash
1 lb sweet potatoes
2 small yukon potatoes
1 small onion
6 cups chicken broth
1 tbsp minced ginger

This was a pretty easy recipe, but most of the work was turning this:

into this:

One workout at Gregory Gym this afternoon, the second in the Huebner Kitchen dicing up all that fun.  The rest went by quickly.  Throw the onions in with some olive oil in a large soup dish for about five minutes until tender.  Then add the ginger, sit back and enjoy the smell (but only for 1 minute):

 

Then in goes the rest of the veggie goodness (and chicken broth).  Turn the heat up to get it simmering then cover and turn it down to medium for 45 minutes or until the ingredients are soft enough to blend.  Use a blender and smooth everything out into an even consistency (left ours with some small chunks) and then put it back on the heat for another 15 minutes or so while you put together this super easy salad:

lettuce
sliced pears
blue cheese
chopped walnuts

dressing:
3 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp apple vinegar
1 tbsp dijon mustard
1 tsp lemon juice

throw it all together and here's what makes the wife smile:

Pulled Pork Sammiches - Hot Crock-Pot Action

Quick. Easy. Cheap. Plentiful.  That's the way to properly rock the crock-pot my friends.  We'd used ours once since the wedding so it was time to break it back out.  Last week was a busy one but with softball being rained out I swung by HEB on the way home for the essential ingredients:

1 pork shoulder (~3.5 pounds)
1 liter-O-Cola (this Super Troopers quote/reference shamelessly brought to you courtesy of my recent celeb sighting Saturday night http://twitpic.com/tiar0 director and star of Super Troopers, Beerfest and newly released Slammin Salmon, Jay Chandrasekhar )
1 12 oz bottle of Stubbs BBQ sauce
1 pack of slider buns

This was ridiculously easy to put together and fed an army (or A and I for 3 or 4 meals):

1. Trim any excess fat off the shoulder
2. Place it in crock-pot on low heat
3. Cover in Cola (we used Coke but I've heard Root Beer works well)
4. Get on with your business for the next 8-9 hours
5. Remove from crock-pot and use forks to shred (save a cup of the liquid)
6. Return shredded pork to pot, add bbq sauce and cup of the liquid
7. Mix and put on high heat for 30 minutes.
8. Plate on toasted slider buns
9. Win!

We had ours with sweet potato fries which were even easier to prepare:
1. Cut up sweet potato into 1 inch wide, half inch thick, whatever length.
2. Toss in bowl with olive oil
3. Place on oven sheet and dust with salt, pepper and some chili powder.
4. Cook on low rack @400 for 20 minutes.  Move to high rack for 10 minutes to crisp them up.

Behold

From Green Bean Casserole to Greenling: One Man's Culinary Evolution

When I decided to start this blog I didn't really put much thought into why.  Was it readership, credibility or just another cog in the social media machine that keeps us all connected?

Readership I've got.  Google Analytics tells me I've had 100 visits since the nomBlog's inception which may not be much compared to other bloggers out there, but I'm thrilled after just 2 posts.

Credibility....I'm still waiting on those invitations to new restaurant openings so perhaps that's where I need to focus some attention.  I'm not a chef.  My restaurant experience is limited to the following:

1.Concession stands at my high school stadium.  I held such illustrious titles as “Hot-dog Defrosting Technician” and “Lead Queso Associate”.  Despite what I know about how those things operate, I still find myself ordering a hot dog and nachos at DKR.  Pavlovian tendencies are tough to overcome.

2.Pizza delivery – the smell of pizza does not come out of vehicle upholstery.  I'm pretty sure that's a good thing.

3.Head food leecher- My parents purchased K&G Restaurant in Brenham shortly after I graduated high school.  Unfortunately, it was within driving distance of Austin so any trip home meant heavy grazing by yours truly.  If the buffet wasn't up, I was in the kitchen pestering the cook or tasting the latest pie or cake my mom cooked up for the day.  The freshman 15 evolved into the senior 40.

So, I'm not gaining any credibility based on work experience.  Everything I've learned over the past (gulp) 31 years has been passed down from some amazing cooks/people in my life.

It started with “Janet's (Mom's) Green Bean Casserole” which made appearances at just about every Thanksgiving/Christmas/family gathering mainly due to my siblings and I demanding it.  I don't remember how old I was when I was first trusted with preparing the dish, but I remember being floored when it got the seal of approval from my mom (the family seal of approval was an empty dish).  At that moment I realized that one of the best parts of cooking was seeing your work being enjoyed by others.  That's one of the biggest reasons for this blog.  Food is meant to be enjoyed, be it a simple casserole dish or a complex brisket on the pit.

When I turned 24, my mom gave me a recipe book that she'd put together that included many of the foods I'd grown up on.  Over the past 7 years I've made it a point to add to that book with recipes from friends, family and a bunch I've run across online.  The instructions are there...unfortunately, the will power to put them together has been lacking for quite some time.  Simply put, I can be a lazy guy; especially when it comes to grocery shopping.  A isn't much of a go-getter in that arena either so we've been living off a steady diet of quasi-fast food and various restaurants for far too long.

Enter Greenling.  In an effort to start eating better we've found our savior (or perhaps half-way house is  a better term).  Online grocery shopping.  Locally owned.  Farmed locally.  Organic.  Did I mention they bring it to your front door?  We're talking eggs from right here in Austin.  Cheese made in the Brazos Valley.  Beef raised in Bastrop.  Its going to be a gateway to help us start cooking more at home while simultaneously boosting the local economy.  Win friggin win.

Our first round was successful (breakfast for dinner one night, pork loin with acorn squash another) so I hope this leads to more home recipes on the blog.  If I can find a good price on steak my next entry will be overcoming the lack of a grill: how to pan sear steaky goodness.  Nomdiddilynom.